The people of the Book ask thee to bring down a Book to them from the heaven. But surely they asked Musa a thing greater than that; they said: shew us God manifestly; whencefore the thunderbolt overtook them for their wrong-doing. Then they took a calf after there had come unto them the evidences. Even so We pardoned that, and We gave Musa a manifest authority. 153 And We raised over them the mount for [refusal of] their covenant; and We said to them, "Enter the gate bowing humbly", and We said to them, "Do not transgress on the sabbath", and We took from them a solemn covenant. 154 And so, [We punished them] for the breaking of their pledge, and their refusal to acknowledge God's messages, and their slaying of prophets against all right, and their boast, "Our hearts are already full of knowledge" - nay, but God has sealed their hearts in result of their denial of the truth, and [now] they believe in but few things; 155 And [We cursed them] for their disbelief and their saying against Mary a great slander, 156 and for their saying, 'We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God' -- yet they did not slay him, neither crucified him, only a likeness of that was shown to them. Those who are at variance concerning him surely are in doubt regarding him; they have no knowledge of him, except the following of surmise; and they slew him not of a certainty -- no indeed; 157 In fact Allah raised him towards Himself; and Allah is Almighty, Wise. 158 And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be against them a witness. 159 And for the harmdoing of those of Jewry, We have forbidden them the good things that were permitted to them, and also for their barring many from the way of Allah. 160 And because they used to take usury whereas they were forbidden from it, and they used to wrongfully devour people’s wealth; and for the disbelievers among them, We have kept prepared a painful punishment. 161 But to those of them, who are firmly grounded in knowledge, and the believers, who truly believe in what is revealed to you, and what was revealed before you. To those who pray regularly and pay the zakat [prescribed alms] and believe in God and the Last Day, We will surely give a great reward. 162